


the best place to find a lover

by staystreetfriend



Category: Twenty One Pilots
Genre: Alternate Universe, M/M, as per usual, josh is a pretty cool guy, twenty one pilots does not exist, tyler is sort of an alcoholic
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-07-19
Updated: 2018-07-19
Packaged: 2019-06-13 00:05:00
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 633
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/15351780
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/staystreetfriend/pseuds/staystreetfriend
Summary: tyler and josh meet in a bar.





	the best place to find a lover

**Author's Note:**

> hiii. it's been a While since i wrote anything about twenty one pilots, but tbh i love tyler and josh too much to stay away forever. assuming i don't get bored for the 939427897598th time, i may start writing regularly again, in which case i'll probably write more fics like this, where twenty one pilots is Not a thing and tyler and josh are regular dudes. idk, we'll see, i'm not up to much these days. with all that junk out of the way, i hope you all enjoy. sorry if there are any mistakes. i need to sleep.
> 
> although i absolutely loathe the song at this point, the title is from shape of you by ed sheeran :P

he notices the surly-looking man as soon as he walks through the door of the disgusting shameless-esque bar. he’s wearing all black, the man is, with old floral vans that look like they have about two days of wear left.

he’s downing a shot of some sort of brown liquid as josh approaches him. he looks messy. his fingernails are short and the skin around them looks mangled. he’s a nail-biter. he’s a messy guy.

“another one, mark,” he hears the man say as he pointedly sits down next to him. josh can see him looking out of the corner of his eye, so he casually waves. the bartender - mark - walks over and fills up his shot glass.

“can i get you anything?” mark asks josh with a blank stare. josh shakes his head. he shrugs and turns to his other customers.

“how do you know mark?” josh asks, turning in his stool. the man blinks, deliberately keeping his body angled away from josh, although he does make eye contact.

“how do _you_ know mark?” his voice is soft, josh silently muses, and sort of high-pitched. he has honey-brown eyes, the same shade as the liquid he’s drinking, and there is stubble on his face.

“i never said i did.” josh smiles. the man doesn’t.

“i went to high school with him,” he says, sounding slightly bitter. “do you drink?”

josh takes a moment to look around. he’s, unsurprisingly, the only person in the bar who doesn’t have at least a beer in his hand. “not really. i never saw the appeal, even after a semester of college.”

“what are you doing here, then?”

josh smiles again. “i heard the bar is a great place to find a lover.”

the man snorts, turning back to his shot glass and downing the alcohol. “good luck with that, romeo.”

“josh. is my name.”

he turns to look at josh again. this time, he looks. “i’m tyler. i guess.”

“you aren’t sure?”

tyler rolls his eyes. “my name is tyler.” josh smiles, satisfied.

“so, what are _you_ doing here, tyler?”

tyler considers the question, picking at the skin around his nails. his fingers start bleeding. “what am i doing here, in this bar? or in this life?”

“wow. that was gaping.” josh opens his mouth in mock astonishment.

“shut up,” tyler shoots back, smiling for the first time. his eyes crinkle, making him look years younger than he likely is. it’s a good look on him, josh decides.

“you sound kind of girly when you talk.”

“fuck you.” there’s a hint of glee in tyler’s voice. “why am i even talking to you?”

“is there honestly anything better to do? now, back to the question.”

tyler looks serious. “it’s a… long story.”

josh leans in, unexplainable curiosity running through his body. “ooh, is your life that interesting?”

tyler hums, waving a hand to try and flag down mark. “that _tragic_.” mark trudges over and fills tyler’s glass. “just leave the bottle, man. honestly, who else here would drink this cheap shit?”

mark sets the bottle down in front of tyler and crosses his arms against his chest. he looks from tyler to josh, and back to tyler. “have you seen your mom lately?”

“right now, she’s in michigan or something. whatever.”

“you should call her.” tyler narrows his eyes.

“when was the last time you called _your_ mother, marcus?”

before mark can respond, josh’s pocket dings. both men watch as he pulls out his phone and reads a text. “hmm, i gotta go. my dad’s been in the hospital across the street.”

“oh. i’m sure i’ll see you around?” tyler proposes, looking hopeful.

josh smirks. “i know where to find you.” he walks out of the shitty bar, leaving tyler alone with mark and his bottle.


End file.
